India, June 29 -- One of the most heartbreaking things for a teacher is the absence of a classroom to teach in. There are countless stories of educationists - from Savitribai Phule to S Radhakrishnan - making do with whatever resources they have at their disposal to pay the metaphorical wisdom debt forward. It is, therefore, doubly tragic when classrooms are bereft of teachers. And when classrooms in elite institutions such as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) go without teachers, there are no excuses to be made.

As Hindustan Times first reported on Monday, across 23 IITs, 4,804, or 38.4% of the total sanctioned faculty posts were vacant as of January 30. While directors have cited uncompromising hiring standards and stiff compe...